I stand up this afternoon on behalf of the Rural Independents to ask again to extend the slurry-spreading deadline at least to the end of October. I have already asked for this and we got a week last week. We acknowledged that from the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. We have another week today. Look at the weather we have had this year. I do not want to stand up here week in, week out asking about this. Farmers have had a very difficult time with costs over the past two years but the weather this year has been so uns…

The last week.

I too am pleased to have a chance to speak to this Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023. Like previous speakers have said, we did engage with the all-party Oireachtas human dignity group, which had a meeting here. There were presentations from people who really know about this, who work at the coalface. We were shocked at the figures. That is not to say we did not know what was going on, because to a great extent we have known for a long time what has been going on. The fact is that it is …

I too want to raise the issue of workers in section 39, section 56 and section 10 organisations. The last thing they want to do is engage in industrial action. They are at the coalface of looking after our most vulnerable, in organisations such as the Irish Wheelchair Association, RehabCare and children's disabilities services, which are being shamefully neglected by the Government. We have to support these workers. It is disgraceful that they work beside colleagues who earn an extra €4 an hour. They do not want to…

Home support services are dire at present. Elderly and vulnerable people who are sick are being told they have been approved for home support hours but it is not possible to get staff to fill these positions. When is the HSE going to wake up, smell the coffee and decide it must have better conditions and supports for these very valuable workers as part of an effort to retain these workers and recruit more of them? The HSE cannot just wipe its hands and say "Tough" and it cannot get staff. Across the economy, busine…

The dolly mixture.

Have you no parliamentary party?

Some might say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing year after year and expecting a better result. This is a shambles. First, the Minister, Deputy Foley is not here. I cannot understand. I used to be in the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party at one time. You would bring these issues up inside in the parliamentary party, you would get respect and would get them changed. All the backbenchers were in here this evening lamenting the woes of Bus Éireann and the families that are affected by them. I do not kno…

Incompetence in the extreme is going on in Bus Éireann. In my short time, I will pick one area which is the over-70s, and ageist discrimination. I have been raising it in this House for four years with different taoisigh and tánaistí; Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They told me they were sorting it out. I was sitting here last week and I called up to Deputy Chambers, who was just passing. I asked him whether he could do something about the over-70s, as many routes have been thrown up this year because good contractors …

I too am very concerned about this issue. These providers came up here last week. They were forced to come up here. They did not want to be here either because they wanted to be looking after children and not inconveniencing the parents and families. When I questioned the Taoiseach about this, and the Minister was here himself when I did, he said it was only 5% of providers and dismissed them as irrelevant. The Government is so out of touch now across the board. As people have said, we do not have buses to bring ki…

A new study released last week found that sewage discharge released into rivers is far worse-----

Sewage discharge is far worse than what is coming off the land from agriculture. The University of Oxford revealed that sewage discharge into rivers has a greater impact on water quality and the animals and plant life in the rivers than effluent from farmers, despite the bashing of farmers all the time. The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, is not honest on this and it must be challenged. It had a report saying there was 32 plants in the 26 Counties discharging sewage. There are 30 in Tipperary alone and it is …

Be honest.

What about the EPA?

I, too, support the motion today, and not because I am fan of the hard left or People Before Profit-Solidarity. The Government has led itself into a disastrous situation. It has gone down a cul-de-sac and will not build public houses. It will not allow people to build houses on their own land in the country. It was not this Government but a previous Fine Gael Government that closed down all the bedsits. It is a mess that the Government has created and it is getting bigger by the day. People are being threatened. Si…

I rise today to ask the Taoiseach on my behalf and that of my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group to please intervene in the situation pertaining to An Garda Síochána, the Garda Representative Association, GRA, and the Garda Commissioner. As we know, there was an unprecedented vote, with 99% of GRA members voting no confidence in the Garda Commissioner. There was a great flurry of activity and anxiety and angst in spite of the fact the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, said she had full confidence in the …

I am not accusing him.

Unfortunately, I am just stating a fact. When these talks were going on last weekend, where was the Commissioner? He was at the rugby match in France. We think he has no interest in his members. I plead with him to give resources to gardaí in Tipperary, so they can defend themselves and the public. Goodness knows, the community in Clonmel want to thank the Government and everybody involved but especially the gardaí on the way they supported the families following the tragic incident in which four young lives were l…

I note the Ceann Comhairle's concerns but 99% of the Garda members do not have confidence in the Commissioner. Its members are contacting every Member, including, I am sure, those on the Government side. It is a crazy situation where the Government is going to give a blank cheque to this Commissioner. As I said, intense efforts were made by the GRA and senior people in the Department of Justice and An Garda over the weekend and late last week but the Commissioner just rubbished it. The attitude he has to the situat…

The pig industry is facing a huge recruitment crisis. Recent research shows that almost 50% of pig farmers will exit the market if they cannot get workers. Some 48% of those same farmers have vacancies but they are not allowed to recruit outside the State. They cannot fill the vacancies at home and they are not allowed to recruit from outside the State. It is a desperate crisis for them. If the Department does not intervene to allow these farmers to get workers from abroad, this industry is going to go down the Swa…